WVU Medicine Nephrologists Hit the Road to Improve Access to Care
WVU Medicine Nephrologists Hit the Road to Improve Access to Care
WVU Medicine Nephrology, led by Section Chief Beth Pellegrino, MD, is continuing a nearly 30-year tradition of breaking down barriers to care for kidney patients.
Nephrology patients, particularly those who need dialysis, often have multiple medical appointments each week. Some dialysis patients require treatment as many as five days a week, which can be difficult to manage with work, family, and social obligations. This, combined with the geography and terrain of the state, has the potential to create challenges for patients and their caregivers.
In the 1990s, the Section, led by former Chief Rebecca Schmidt, MD, started an outreach program that worked with other organizations to create dialysis clinics across the state. This greatly reduced travel times while increasing access to care.
“Dr. Schmidt made the effort to take our practice ‘off the hill,’ so to speak,” Dr. Pellegrino said. “Our outreach program started in Moorefield at the request of the community leaders in that area. Since then, that clinic has grown to include a dialysis unit, allowing us to help patients who may or may not require dialysis.
“Our goal is to be there for the communities that might not have access to nephrologists. I think what we do is a different because of where we live. In cities, you see that there are a lot of nephrologists, and there is competition for patients. But we’re the opposite here. I could see as many patients as I’m able to, and there would still be a line at the door. We want to improve access in as many ways as we can, and we’ve done that through setting up clinics, dialysis centers, and telemedicine.”
The program has grown over the years to include clinics in Buckhannon, Elkins, Fairmont, Flatwoods, Glenville, Grafton, Keyser, Moorefield, Morgantown, and Summersville in West Virginia and in Oakland, Maryland. The Section has also developed affiliations with dialysis companies Fresenius, DaVita, and IDF to improve patient access in Braxton, Hardy, Marion, Mineral, Monongalia, Preston, Randolph, and Upshur counties in West Virginia and Garrett County in Maryland.
“Patients on dialysis are very sick and have a lot of medical problems,” Dr. Pellegrino said. “But even before you end up on dialysis, you spend a lot of time at doctor’s appointments. We wanted to make accessing those providers easier for our patients.”
Dr. Pellegrino credits the success of this program not just to the volume of clinics they’ve been able to open, but to the relationships they’ve been able to build with their patients.
“I’m very, very proud of what we’ve done here,” Dr. Pellegrino said. “Honestly, this has been my life’s work, setting up these clinics all around the state. We’ve been extremely fortunate that the Department of Medicine and WVU Medicine have been very supportive to allow us to do that. It’s incredible.”
WVU Medicine Nephrology has created an app, NephRef™, that helps providers connect patients with outreach clinics in their communities. NephRef™ is both a reference and referral tool designed to educate and empower physicians and advanced practitioners in their care and referral of patients with kidney disease. For more information or to download NephRef™, visit https://mailchi.mp/36b4fda2bd5a/acereport2021-15015155?e=a292038af8.